The First Day, The First Disaster And The First Dress

 

 

Buenos días from the Costa Blanca, daahlings..!  Blogging is something that, up until very recently, I had always naïvely presumed to be an unendingly glamorous pastime, which may well be true as long as you have a reliable internet source – I spent much of Thursday trudging glumly from bar to coffee shop to supermarket in sweltering heat on a desperate hunt for Wi-Fi, but to no avail.

 

So yes, it is undoubtedly quite a struggle to bring this first holiday blog post to your screen, that is, if it ever arrives at all (please Gods of Internet).  Thursday was the first full day of fifteen away with my parents and two sisters, and in true Kane holiday style, things did not get off to a smooth start.  Having woken up early, lathered myself in sun-cream and donned my bikini and most fabulous sunglasses, I had been all set for a day of sunbathing…so obviously there was a mahoosive thunderstorm.  Which hasn’t calmed since we got here.  And that was only the first disaster… 

Instead of letting the storm (literally) rain on my parade, I suggested a trip to a nearby shopping centre.  However, my excitement at the thought of shopping was evidently a little too much for the wine rack placed precariously by the door.  I managed to nudge said wine rack (in which was nestled a big ol’ bottle of Merlot), just enough to cause the bottle to explode against the wall, pouring red wine down all four of the pristine white villa walls and sending shards of glass down the stairs.  You can imagine my reaction… and my poor family’s (‘Why did we bring this clumsy buffoon on holiday with us!!!?’).

An hour later, with cleaning products strewn across the disaster zone, we headed out to the town in search of white paint and rollers, giving me a chance to take my new H&M bargain for a spin.  

Dress - H&M / Sandals - Topshop / Bag - Urban Outfitters / Sunglasses -  French Connection

 

I for one am very partial to H&M’s sales – in my local store they are always challenging, with clothes strewn all over the floor, handbags mixed in with the underwear, it’s pure anarchy.  But bargains like this one are the reason I venture into the sale rails at all.  At only £5 who could say no! 

  In the evening we walked to the nearest village for some tapas, including a rather interesting looking squid... I say no more.

Ruby x 

Not So Mellow Yellow

 

On Wednesday this week one of my oldest and bestest friends, Emily, and I decided to hit up our quiet little town for a glass of wine, hopefully large enough to match the amount of catching up we had to do.  The great thing about being away at Uni for most of the year is that when you do come back for summer, there's so many old friends to meet up with, which also generally involves gossip by the kilo.  And who doesn't love a little bit of gossip.

My jacket was a little bit of a spontaneous purchase, made quite a few months ago now but never, EVER regretted.  How can you regret such a delicious mustard-y jacket (this is the only type of mustard I love) when it was only £1 from a little old man at a car boot sale.  It certainly pays to keep your eyes peeled when strolling through these kind of events, although to be honest this jacket was pretty hard to miss.   I think this blog is just revealing to everyone my secret extreme scrimp personality because my white jeans were another absolute bargain at just £10 in the end of the Topshop sale last summer.  They're a little bit too big - you know what it's like when it gets to the end of the sale, sometimes I buy things purely because I don't want anyone else to have it (but don't tell anyone I said that) - but with a belt I figured I could pass them off as an extreme boyfriend fit...innovative and economical.  

Jacket - Thrifted / Top - Brandy Melville / Jeans - Topshop / Belt - Vintage

Sandals - Topshop / Bag - Urban Outfitters / Earrings - Primark

Watch - Daniel Wellington / Nail Varnish - MAC Fiestaware 

So after awkwardly running away when whoever's garage it was that I was standing in front of suddenly arrived in their shiny new wheels, we got into town and found a good spot for a drink and a natter.  All finished off nicely with a couple of polaroids.  We're such girls!!

Ruby x

Visiting Portsmouth

Happy Friday, everybody!  This week Josh and I went to Portsmouth with our friend Jack to do a bit of shopping.  I quite like Portsmouth for shopping because Cascades shopping centre has old goodies like Primark and TK Maxx but very close by is Gunwharf Quays which is just a minefield of various bank account obliterating outlet stores.  The only thing it really does lack is a reliable coffee shop which isn't the likes of Costa or Starbucks, somewhere with a bit of pizazz, y'know!?  We made a bit of a mistake going for coffee at Fagin's Cafe, which tasted like milky water from a cheap imposter posing as a coffee machine (I have my suspicions that my tastebuds are correct).  So, if you go, and like me hate coffee chains, I really would advise taking a flask - yes it's that dire a situation.  Luckily, the shops in Gunwharf made up for it!  My personal favourites are the Adidas store, where the longer you stay, the more shoes you really believe you need to buy, Kurt Geiger (to balance out the trainer purchases) and one called The Cosmetics Company Store...

I think The Cosmetics Company Store is an American chain, I've never seen the shop anywhere else but I always love 'just popping in' while I'm in Gunwharf.  It's a bit like a mini department store really, there's lots of premium branded items, but all sold at a discounted price (some discounts are minimal but others are decent) - the likes of Mac, Estee Lauder, Bobbi Brown, Clinique, Smashbox etc...  I went in looking for two items in particular: a new gel eyeliner, to replace my Benefit They're Real, and a pressed powder highlighter to try out instead of the cream one I've been using.  Having left Josh and Jack at the Adidas store I was free to browse to my heart's content - the shop is definitely not boyfriend-friendly - and actually found both things I was looking for!  Oh, the joy was unimaginable!  

So, without further ado, here are the bits and pieces I picked up while we were in Portsmouth:

Sunglasses & Necklace - Primark /  Candle - HomeSense / Powder & Nail Polish - Mac 

Eyeliner - Smashbox / Clear Nail Polish - Leighton Denny

 

This week I actually suffered a rather sad loss, when the arm of my French Connection sunglasses was suddenly and barbarically severed by the interior working of my handbag.  Don't ask me how it happened, I'm still in mourning... luckily enough I found these two babies in Primark to help nurse my sorrow.  Anyone who knows me will know I love round framed sunglasses, and these in particular have a lot of sass about them, don't you think?

I also love these darker framed ones, they remind me of the Ray-Ban style, except they were only £2, instead of a hundred and something (it was a no-brainer in my 'help-me-I'm-a-poor-student' mindset).  All sunglasses from Primark now come with a small soft case, which is a nice touch.  It might not save them from arm sever-ment (the grief is causing me to make up words now) but it will probably stop them getting minor scratches.  Every little helps, right...

I also got this b-e-a-utiful Jet Set Waterproof Eyeliner in green ivy from Smashbox, which was in a special extra 50% off section (I spent a long time there, don't worry) so came to only £5.63!!!!!  I will possibly do a separate review of this, maybe a comparison with the Benefit They're Real, so let me know if that would interest you!  Likewise, with this Mac High-light powder in Blush Pink... This was £16.25 instead of the £23 it says on their website.  Yesssss!

 

The last thing I got was this Mac Nail Lacquer in Fiestaware which I also love, and was only £3.50 (again, an extra 50% off).  I've never tried Mac nail polishes before but so far my impressions are good, the brush and rubbery lid makes the application really easy.  

Having put up this photo I'm aware of the rather dodgy lighting in the others... whoops!  Must've been too excited over all my new purchases.  

Ruby x

Dunga-licious (An Outfit)

Hello and a very happy Monday to you all!  My weekend has been a bit of a hectic one (I swear they're always like that during the summer) as my parents had a huge party for their 25th wedding anniversary.  So for the past 5 days I've been running around whipping up quiches so large they almost don't fit in the oven, icing cakes and going on alcohol runs (in the car of course) while trying to prevent my mother having a breakdown over the stress of cooking for food for almost 100 people.  Just crazy.  

However on Friday I did manage to escape the fire of the kitchen for a stroll into town with Josh.  Which meant I obviously called upon his photography skills to take a few snaps for me to put up here...  Unfortunately however the location I thought was quite scenic was actually a little too shady so here are some slightly avant garde outfit pics from that day.

I love dungarees for two reasons, number one because I love denim even more than I love cake (blasphemy!), and number two because there is very little that will not go with dungarees - they're so versatile!  I'm really liking the off-the-shoulder top trend too, and I actually picked up this top back in February from one of the last of the January sale rails for a bargain fiver I do believe!  So luckily enough for me, they've come into fashion and I can pretend to be a fashionista who devotedly keeps up with the trends.  

Today will probably be spent finishing the clear up of the after-party from Saturday (aka, polishing off all the desserts and copious amounts of cous cous and cheese that are leftover), soldiering on with some summer reading for my course and trying not to drink too much tea.

Ruby x

Dungarees - Topshop (similar here) / Top - Miss Selfridge / Watch - Daniel Wellington 

Bag - Urban Outfitters / Sunglasses - French Connection / Sandals - Topshop